The Secret Adventurers' Club (Part 3)

Finny knew the name. She knew the name because she had made a habit of reading whatever was on Joe Spivey’s desk at the factory. She knew that Joe had recently bought some ‘Decorative Beer Pumps’ and some ‘Furniture; various’ and some ‘Kitchenware; Mis-cell-an-eous (she’d had to look that one up)’. She knew also that these and other items were now either in, or on their way to Joe’s warehouse on Verde Street. She already knew something bad had happened at Diamond Lil’s. What she didn’t know, was what that something was… Only that there had been a huge big fight, but everyone knew that.

The fact that the place was boarded up and festooned with ominous yellow police tape pulled at Finny’s common sense, trying to catch its attention. But Finny was watching the other three, all of them ‘ohhhing’ and ‘ahhhing’ and trying to see into the building through gaps in the boards. She knew that if she even tried to dissuade the boys it would likely lose her some cred, even more if she actually managed to do it and they left without ever trying to get in to the place. Besides, she was feeling the same tingling excitement that they were. Forbidden places were a magnet to kids, especially kids hoping to find things they could later trade. Common sense, it seemed, would be taking a back seat today.

Worms led them around the corner into an alley, each side of which was a blank brick wall. That didn’t matter though because Worms put his back to the side of a dumpster.

“Help push.”

Finny, Casper and Onetooth duly obliged, lining up beside Worms.

The dumpster screeched its wonky-wheeled way along the wall until a sizeable hole was revealed in the brickwork.

“Ta Da!”

The four of them pushed and shoved each other to get a better view into the interior. It was some kind of an office, and it was a mess.

Some of the furniture was gone, leaving its cleanish footprint on the plaster-dust covered floorboards. What furniture still remained was smashed. Even the pictures of cowboys and cows that hung lopsidedly on the walls had been ripped and stabbed. Paper, glass and broken ornaments littered the floor but beyond a couple of metres the far walls of the room were just vague darkness.

Onetooth took the lead and heaved himself up onto the bottom of the hole.

“C’mon.”

Finny was next, of course. Then Worms and then, after an only partly hidden nervous glance down the alley, Casper came up the rear as usual.

The first thing Onetooth saw were the unmistakeable bullet holes in both the walls and the half open door.

The first thing Finny saw, with a widening grin, was the open safe.

The first thing Casper looked for was the way out and all the possible places they could get themselves trapped.

But the second thing that everyone saw was what Worms was proudly standing in and grinning at them from. On the floor, just outside the doorway and chalked onto the floor, was the very basic outline of a human figure. Oh, and the bloodstain. They all noticed the bloodstain.